Indianapolis 500 runner-up Marcus Ericsson was one of three top-12 finishers from Sunday's race whose cars failed a post-race inspection, resulting in a drop to the back of the field. For Ericsson, that means that he fell from second place to 31st out of 33 drivers who competed. The cars driven by Ericsson and his Andretti Global teammate Kyle Kirkwood were found in their post-race inspections to have unapproved modifications to the covers on their Dallara-supplied Energy Management System hybrid units. IndyCar announced the penalties on Monday. Per IndyCar, those units are required to be used as supplied, and the modifications "provided the capability of enhanced aerodynamic efficiency to both cars." Kirkwood dropped from sixth place to 32nd after the penalty. The car driven by Prema Racing's Callum Ilott "failed to meet the minimum endplate height and location specification." Ilott dropped from 12th place to 33rd because of his team's penalty. Andretti Global announced that itis requesting "a full review"of the penalties from IndyCar. Prema Racingissued a statementaccepting "full responsibility" for the infraction. The penalty means more frustration for Ericsson, who held a late lead in Sunday's racebefore being passed by winner Alex Palou. Ericsson, a former Formula 1 driver, held the lead with 14 laps remaining, but was passed by Palou while entering Turn 1. ALEX PALOU TO THE LEAD AT INDY!pic.twitter.com/jcx7qmNW66 — NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar)May 25, 2025 Palou did not relinquish the lead from there en route to his fifth win in six races this season. Ericsson held on for second place until his post-race penalty dropped him to 31st, a fall that comes with a likely six-figure reduction in payout. Indy 500 payouts aren't straight forward and don't simply award drivers and teams progressively based on where they finished. Other factors including laps led and qualifying performance impact the final payouts. Perthe Indianapolis Star, Ericsson earned $610,500 for his 31st-place finish.The Athletic estimatesthat his payout for second place would have exceeded $1 million. The cars for both Ericsson and Kirkwood were each issued a $100,000 penalty for the infractions. The competition managers for both cars are suspended for the upcoming Detroit Grand Prix scheduled for June 1. Palou earned $3.8 million for winning the Indy 500.
